Women in Business: MADLOAF
Madloaf Art Ltd is founded by Maddie Sunter, an artist who wanted to start her own business and which opened officially in January 2020 in Bristol. After speaking to Maddie about her art and how she started creating Madloaf, here are a few things you should know about Madloaf and Maddie herself.
Maddie, is originally from an art background, and became interested in art growing up as her mother was an artist, so this was something they could do together. She then attended Central St Martins in London to study Fashion and Textiles Foundations, but unfortunately felt unwell due to the environment and tried exploring other business options to keep her passion for art burning. She later went on to study at The University of Westminster, complete an exchange at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in Manhattan, New York and did a year long placement in River Island Head Office. She also did a masters in marketing later at the University of Bristol in 2018.
She then decided it was time to have a break and took two years out travelling and working, and credits a lot of her inspiration for what she creates from these travels.
When I spoke to her, she admitted that after her travels, she was very much struggling to find a job following her masters at Bristol Univeristy, so to calm herself down she went back to her roots and started painting... and (drum roll please) MADLOAF was born!
As Maddie says so perfectly herself;
‘I always wanted to bring affordable, meaningful and fun art to people's lives that warms their homes! Launching in January, I just thought I am in a stage in my life when this is clearly my true passion, I went through so many highs and lows but art has always been ingrained in me. After initially pursuing it at 18 and being so unhappy, I never thought I would return. But after everything I have done, worked so hard for in education and employment, exploring and learning about new cultures while travelling that still inspire me everyday, I have come full circle and realised it is simply my rock and my outlet. Creativity has never failed me, and if I could bring even a touch of that to people's lives I would feel like I've completed my goal. For me, as subjective as it is, art is something that is in everybody's culture, whether that be on a small or large scale, visual or non visual, in any medium, it is something to be celebrated and appreciated as a form of expression. It has the ability to unite community and educate others - something which I feel is so important in these confusing and uneasy times.’
Whilst it’s so refreshing to hear of a young artist setting up her own business, Maddie admits that she still has to retain a job to support her passion (one that she hopes to pursue full time one day),. For now, she also works at Apple as a product specialist. A fantastic job, she says, with a team that always support my dream. Something that is clearly of great value when trying to set up a business, especially during a pandemic.
Her first exhibition was due to be at the end of May 2020, but was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID19. This exhibition will happen as soon as Maddie can feasibly do it, in the meantime, she has been creating completely new pieces and experimenting with different styles which she cannot wait to launch in the near future.
You can also check out more of her artwork on our Artist spotlight for MADLOAF.
